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Sustainable Jersey Announces Program Details

The much anticipated Sustainable Jersey program held a press conference on February 26 to announce that full details about how to apply for the Sustainable Jersey certification, along with applications for the Sustainable Jersey Grants funded by Wal-Mart, are now available on the website www.sustainablejersey.com.

Grant applications for the Sustainable Jersey Grants funded by Wal-Mart will be downloadable from the website and will be due in late April. Awards will be made later in the spring of ‘09.

Governor Corzine and the heads of several state agencies were on hand to announce new programs linked to
Sustainable Jersey that include financial incentives.

Speakers Speakers at the press conference were Commissioner Mauriello of the NJDEP; President Jeanne Fox of the NJBPU; Randall Solomon of the New Jersey Sustainable State Institute at Rutgers; Donna Drewes of the Municipal Land Use Center at the College of New Jersey; the Co-Chairs of the Mayor’s Committee for a Green Future, Mayor Meryl Frank of Highland Park and Deputy Mayor Fred Profeta of Maplewood; David Grant, President and CEO of the G.R. Dodge Foundation.

The Development Process In December 2008 and January 2009, New Jersey municipalities volunteered to serve as Beta testers for the Sustainable Jersey program prior to its release by providing their feedback on the actions, tools, point system and program overall. There were also expert reviewers outside of the pre-existing Sustainable Communities Working Group who accessed the program and provided structured feedback. Final work is underway to incorporate the great feedback into the program.

To Get Involved To get started municipalities need to adopt a resolution that states their intent to participate, and designate a municipal representative as a coordinator and point of contact. Copies of the sample resolution and registration instructions can be found at: www.sustainablejersey.com

Sustainable Jersey is an initiative of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities’ Mayors’ Committee for a Green Future, the Municipal Land Use Center at the College of New Jersey, The New Jersey Sustainable State Institute at Rutgers University, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Rutgers Center for Green Building, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, and a coalition of New Jersey non-profits, state agencies, and experts in the field.

This article was originally published in New Jersey Municipalities magazine. Vol. 86, No. 4, April 2009